Normal Within Reach
by NeverSayNo2HP
Summary: Harry Potter always wanted a normal life. Like that was going to happen. But what if there was someone normal in his life, one that would give him some normalcy. That had the potential to give him what he as always wanted in his crazy life. That is Lydia Jenks. Lets get to know how she can achieve that mission. Eventual HP/OC
1. NWR Nerves

Note to readers, I do not own any of the characters except Lydia Jenks. Thank you J K Rowling for Harry Potter.

Chapter 1: Nerves

Now being normal can be less than a second choice for someone when their looking at prospects of a date for a school ball. Though for Lydia this was a pseudo unsurprising development. Waiting for a boy to ask her out was like being on the precipice of being on a diet, takes too long, becomes frustrating & just plain makes you break out in hives from self-consciousness. That last part happens particularly when your fellow housemates and friends get asked out.

There was someone particular that she had thought would be nice to attend the ball with, an impossible daydream. It wasn't that if it happened she will be escorted by a champion of the Triwizard tournament, one that her school Hogwarts was holding. It wasn't that he was known for defeating the dark lord as a baby, which she didn't really believe, too many magical external circumstances, especially with his mother's sacrifice. It's not only that he has mesmerizing emerald eyes, or that he is cute with his boy shy modest charm, or his adorable smile. It was that she has crushed on him since the encounter where he found he spotted her using a pen to complete her homework assignment. They had talked for a while in the library first year, him without his friends, & she pointed out to him how to get his book. It was so pleasant, and she felt an instant attraction. Even assumed he had too because he had blushed.

So she had been hoping he would ask her. Spent too much time daydreaming on that, her friends of course knew Lydia much like several other witches crushed on him. Now she wasn't a person to lie to herself, she considers herself to be a normal teenage witch. Fair, slightly pimply because hey its puberty time, curly dark brown hair, slightly larger blue eyes, stubby eye lashes, button nose, and pink mediocre lips, and height of 5'6. She could blend in with someone of the other witches. And she does notice that boys notice what stands out, in certain categories depending on each kind of boy. Of course she does have humor, but some things are lame. She is smart however, though doesn't showcase it like Hermione Granger, because neither is she a Ravenclaw, nor is she as focused on being academically exceptional. Just average in a way. Her parents don't mind one bit, they raised a lovely daughter.

At first she wasn't even going to attend the ball, instead spending Christmas with her family and other annual parties. However a fellow lion, seventh year witch, Angelina had snapped her out of her decision, with one feminist speech. With renewed confidence, she had decided to go alone, nothing wrong with it at all, she will still be able to enjoy herself, and she knows she wouldn't be the only one without a partner. There was no good reason to miss probably the one ball that her time at Hogwarts will happen.

She will later be so glad she went, because it was indeed worth overcoming her nerves.

-NWR-

Hope it was to your liking. I just felt it was time I wrote my entries with more structure.


	2. NWR How my dad met my mother & family t

Note: Same as previous chapter, don't own anything from Harry Potter. Thank you again J K Rowling.

Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2: How my dad met my mother & Family ties

Her family wasn't some high class British family, nor poor, neither does that apply in the magical world. Her lineage is of both muggle and magical. Her father, a Pureblood 2nd generation wizard lawyer, from a family of two older twin siblings (wizard then witch), had much to do whatever he wanted.

So he had met her mother, a muggle school teacher/environmentalist, at the strangest moment, a meet cute of ways. She had apparently come upon the wizarding world in the most unexpected way. Having been holding a field trip for fifth grade history, they were currently at the train station, when they were just shopping about for lunch break. One of her students, Reginald had been missing from the group. Of course she got very worried, and looked around, leaving the other students with another teacher. She spied the boy standing just in front of a pub door, with a sign uselessly showing 'The Leaky Cauldron", sighing to herself she walked over to him. Though when he saw that he had been caught, he looked a little sad, but that didn't stop him.

Too curious about the dark door, he leaped at his chance and opened it, going inside. Needing no more reason to get really screwed by the parents of MrGare, she ran after the student, straight inside.

At first she didn't care for the inside of the pub, just wanting to find the boy. Calling out for him, she looked several placed, until she spied Reggie at the bar, trying to get onto the chair. Grumbling to herself, she had walked over and called for him in a strict voice. There was no excuse for his behavior, so he accepted that he was in trouble, and asked her if she will have to tell his parents. That question didn't even deserve an answer. Simply placing him on the stool, she asked the bar tender if maybe he could give them a glass of water. Turning back to Reggie, she reprimended him. But when he explained what happened, he pointed to the man sitting at the counter looking at them in an amused way while spinning his tea with a spoon.

Her mother had watched stunned, his fingers were not touching the spoon, he even pulled his hand away and it was still spinning. Mutter her bewilderment, she blinked several times. Came around picked up the tea cup, stopped the spoon and held it up, trying to look for strings or magnet, something, but it was absolutely normal. The man still watching, throwing the kid a wink, and asked the woman if she was looking for something. Turning to him, she gaped a few times, lost for words, then put her hands on her hips and asked if he is an illusionist or magician. Beaming at her with a smile that her mother says was the one thing that convinced her mother not to freak out at what he said next, he told her that he is indeed a magician, more accurately a wizard, much like Reggie.

The boy was so excited that he provided the opportunity for her mother to process the information. That included looking around the pub, finding the magic around, feeling it as well, she felt herself close to hyperventilating. But then her dad had touched her hand, and said not to worry, its been here for many centuries, they just don't make themselves obvious. Nodding with some understanding, she grabbed the water and chugged it, not even giving thought that it could have something inside.

Reggie got the answers he wanted, and she got educated on a whole new world, one that she suspiciously thinks her second cousin Freda is part of as well. Eventually seeing the time and situation, she got up off the stool, and told Reggie they must be going, the lunch break is soon to be over, the others really worried for them, and he has not eaten even. Reggie of course complained, but the man said he will come see him and his family, then looking to her mother, her dad said it would be nice to be in touch, maybe a tea so she can get some assurances. Her mother had blushed and agreed, first about to tell him her number, then realizing that it wouldn't work, she told him she will see him at the tea shop Twinnings. He chuckled and told her it was an establishment of an old magical family. Blowing out air in frustrated curiosity, she said it would be a good idea to get such information out when they meet. He bowed slightly as they left.

Her dad had escorted them out, having noticed some wizards and witches watching suspiciously. He even paid Tom to not inform the authorities of this exchange. He just didn't want her mother's memories taken away, because he just knew, he found his soul mate.

It was her favorite story, that is until she read much more creative and life threatening stories, yet she would love to have one like her parents. Their love was still going strong.

His parents had no issues of the marriage, there were a few purebloods that silently protested, but really her dad did not care. Of course quite a lot of his clients had left his service, but her mother came up with an option, he turned to the muggle world, and worked with the Queens and PM's office, he does his work very well. This allowed them to be a middle class family, the top of that tier at least, but didn't show it off at all, they liked normalcy. Her mother's parents came to accept it easily, they knew a few of their own cousins as being magical as well.

Lydia had done a study on that pattern, magic runs in family, it can skip generations, it is unpredictable. Magical.

Life was normal for her, she didn't have much issues except the norm for a halfblood witch. Though the muggle kids where she studied were not as open to her as she had hoped, because her mother was their teacher. Small disadvantage. But her dad taught her how to overcome that difference, she made a couple friends, losing contact with them when they went off to a muggle boarding school together. Not like she could owl them.

But the mixed life was how she enjoyed both worlds, in any aspect; music, sports, movies/stories, literature, science/magic, people reactions, fashion (liking muggle more than magical).

Its a good life, and she is does have two older siblings, Gale and Sarah, brother and sister, twins, runs in the family. They are magical as well, though her sister went for the muggle world, since she is into fashion. Her brother is learning under her father, he is rather smart, hell he is cunning too, a Slytherrin, yet the nicest one so no one shies away from him, he is like a snake. Her brother has learnt how to stand out without doing so, she admires him very much. They tease they love their baby sister, which she hates when they call her that regularly. They were in their sixth year when she entered Hogwarts, so really she only had two years under their tutelage, it was nice, having older siblings looking out for her.

Though they have many things to argue about, she has fashion sense but not of the caliber that Sarah wants. And no matter how many times Gale tries, she can't fly good enough to play with him long enough that she wouldn't accidentally fall off or get hit from lack of concentration on the ball. Not like he could ask Sarah to play, she would just snort at the thought of getting sweaty and dirty and possibly bruised, nope. That is why it was mostly muggle sports that Gale could play with his sister, football usually, she has a good kick, and dancers feet.

Dancing was something their mother taught them. And defense was something their father taught them. And drinking is what their uncle taught her older siblings. Flowering or gardening was taught by their Grams and aunt. Languages was taught by their magical grandmother, and etiquette was taught by their muggle grandmother. Lastly their muggle grandfather taught them how to maintain a car, he is a mechanic since his retirement, he used to be a doctor which is how he met her grandmother who was a nurse.

That would be a summary of her family, she loves them all to pieces, even her annoying cousins who don't hang out with her because she is the youngest.

-NWR-

Hope that was informative, outlines my characters background.


	3. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

~ A/N I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned in the book. I love JK Rowling! The unfamiliar characters are mine. Thank you for reading :) ~

 **T** he dreaded day of the Yule Ball has arrived. Of course when Lydia opened her eyes that had not been her first thought. What registered was the gentle glowing white morning light from her window, and the falling snow. It was Christmas day, it comes every year, and always leaves behind the joy. That is what flowed through her now, from her brightening aware eyes, to her brilliant smile, to her beautiful soul.

Looking to the end of the bed she found what she expected to be there, a bulk of presents neatly set on her trunk. No doubt came to her as she sat up, pushing the covers down to her lap, that they were all from the usual gift givers. Reaching to the side of the bed for her robe, she put it on, and moved over to the end of her bed to start her gift opening. She was already feeling giddy enough to want to yelp happily and throw up a little.

Reaching for the one that was packaged in the same paper her family has done for years; candy canes with mistletoe on a red Christmas color background. Green and red. Pausing just as her fingers grazed the top of the scratchy lace bow, she looked around at her dorm mates. It would seem outside of tradition to start this without them. It is precedent, last year she didn't awake first, that had been Julia, who had woken everyone up, by maybe the worst possible way. (Julia had used the banshee heredity of hers, it scared all of them awake, Grace almost wet herself)

Now she wasn't a prankster, so she decided to do this the right way. Going over to Katie's bed she turned on the WWN and chose the channel that seemed to have the same idea as her. With a very smiley smile, she turned the volume up just the right amount.

It started with a sweet hymen, magical one of course.

 **Hush, hush**

 **Sleep through the light**

 **At the brink of dusk the moon will shine**

 **Collect your spirits**

 **Collect your cauldron**

 **For the ritual of yuletide is nigh**

It was soothing, got them out of their dreams. Then came the classic Celestina song (a muggle song interpretation), which started bringing the consciousness.

 **Oh, the weather outside is frightful**

 **But the fire is so delightful**

 **And since we've no place to go**

 **Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow**

[Thank your Frank Sinatra]

Lydia simply swayed around the boiler, then twirling into the bathroom to start getting her teeth brushed, her hair combed, and a quick freshening. To say that it worked was an understatement. Leaving the sound proof bathroom, she heard all her dorm mates singing and dancing and bouncing on their bed. Perfect. Joining them till the end of the third song.

However when it had been long enough and Julia had stared at her gifts with longing, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Come on lets open the presents, please, please, please!", she almost wailed near the end. They all giggled from Julia's whine.

"Of course Lady Hale, we wouldn't want you to deafen us like last year.", said Katie with much sass and sarcasm.

"This time Grace might actually wet herself." Variety said with her usually teasing nature. Grace blushed to the roots of her hair. It is embarrassing that she does have some childish lack of control on her bladder, but her friends would not let this leave the room.

So jokingly she got up, smiling innocently at Variety and asked "Is this an invitation to sit with her on her bed.". The others broke apart giggling as Variety did her best to push Grace off her bed. The laughing caught up to Grace and she raced for the toilet.

"I didn't mean for her to be uncomfortable last year, but seriously they were still asleep at 6:30 on Christmas morning", they all threw the smallest things in their reach at Julia. Lydia is of the opinion that Julia waits year round for Christmas, she doesn't have her birthday during the other months. Julia was born on the third night of Christmas. They had nothing planned this year, she will no doubt be spending it with her boyfriend, who is taking her to the ball tonight.

Grace came back indicating the start of presents opening time. First gift, the one from her parents, it was a study planner stuck to a box. She laughed and took the planner off, flipped through it a bit, then tossed it to the side. Of course they would make sure a responsible gift came along with the actual gift. In the box were an assortment of muggle candies she has been missing; 4 Mars, 2 Snickers, small Gobstopper, watermelon and grape Nerds, and some Swish dark chocolate Lindt's of varying flavors. Perfect. She quickly opened the Nerds from the watermelon side and crunched on it, before she moved onto the other gifts in the box. A light blue jumper that look extra cozy. Sliding off her robe, she put it on and was warm instantly, magical jumpers from AIIZ. Under the jumper she found a pair of rather cute Mary Jane shoes of a deep blue. Using her wand that was under her pillow, she put a spell on them so they would break themselves in, she didn't want blisters on her feet.

While unpacking the next gift from her brother, she read the family letter to herself.

 _Dear Lydie,_

 _Wish you a Merry Christmas Sweetheart (baby sissie). We are missing you already while preparing for the celebrations. A lot more of your cousins have decided to come this Christmas. Something about a singer being in town called Brittany Spears._

Momentary awe and jealousy raced through her. Lucky cousins, she bets even her siblings are going.

 _Your brother and sister will be going as well. They promise to bring you souvenir's. Little lion, you are going to a Weird Sister's concert, so there is no reason to be down. Brittany will always be in the TV and do other tours._

Her dad just knows how to bring her spirits around. She had forgotten about tonight. And had mixed feelings, a band, a ball, no date, DEAR MERLIN!

 _And a Ball sweetheart, you don't need a boy to enjoy it, just dancing with your friends, hanging out, the time will pass so fast. I bet by the time your back in bed, you will be amused by how much stress you had put on having a date for a ball._

 _Don't forget to send some pictures and enjoy yourself,_

 _Love Mom, Dad, Gale & Sarah_

 _P.S. No underage drinking!_

Lydia giggled, her father was always worried about that when there is a party involved. Since her older siblings had parties quite a bit, and her parents had gotten reports from McGonigal and Snape about their children getting caught with their peers drinking after a quiditch match. It had been the final, Slytherin won, and because they were all tired they didn't party until the next night. No blinds eyes that night.

The next many gifts were from her friends within this dorm. Katie got her a motion book "Flying guide for the helpless cases". Lydia had laughed, because Gale had tried to get her one during the summer school shopping. Spectacular fail. Julia got her a really cute bracelet, with unicorn and fairy charms. Thanking her from across the room, Julia didn't even hear her because she was so intensely trying to decipher why her boyfriend would get her a collection of candy, was he trying to say she was too thin. Lydia shook her head, Julia was over thinking, and she wants to get back to her gifts. Grace got her a selection of three colored inks. They also have a scent, which is perfect because Lydia doesn't know why she would sometimes get nauseous around the standard school ones. Variety got Lydia the same thing she gave last year, a small book on beauty spells. Lydia rolled her eyes and tossed it somewhere on her study desk, some of it may come to use tonight. Trying to ignore the fact that the suggest gift was jabbing some at her self-esteem, she continued opening other smaller gifts.

When all the gifts had been unwrapped, the witched started getting ready for breakfast while talking about what they got, and trying to shut Julia up about her generic present.

"Julia just SHUT UP. Todd has given you a very girlfriend approved Christmas occasion present, and made sure the collection has only your favorite candies. Stop over thinking, eat the candy, and fricking be happy about it already." an annoyed Katie told Julia. The witch in question pouted, then laughed at her own silliness.

"I love your hair brush Grace, where did Raff gotten it from, his home town in Bulgaria?" Variety asked Grace while running her fingers over the design and smooth touch of the brush bar. Lydia looked over and admired the brush, it reminded her of her grandmother's brush, not the same, but antique looking.

Grace shrugged and sighed with a smile as she ran her fingers through her Caramel hair. She said "She doesn't know, but he is originally from Belgium and had thought it would be perfect for her.". They awed at the sweetness, even Lydia, it was a sweet aspect, considering this is a wizard none of them know, he came with the Drumstrang school and instantly connected with Grace.

When the others started to talk about what they got from their boyfriends or dates to the ball, Lydia made a hasty but undetected exit from the dorm. She didn't want to subject herself to that, she is not a masochist. Though her mood had reduced now and she was getting wary about the ball, she could still back out, but it would be a rather embarrassing move. Either way she doesn't doubt several of her classmates know she is going without a date, if she didn't show up it would be sad, if she did then that wouldn't change their opinion much. It's a tossup and she has all day to decide. NOT LONG ENOUGH! - her mind screamed at her.

~ Will Lydia Jenks go to the ball? Well all I can say is wait for the next chapter. I know its been a while but seriously I made the mistake of wanting to write a whole Hogwarts school year worth of the story and lost my interest because I got another story idea. LOL. I have come back to it, and want to write it properly. I don't want to lose the drive this time, so I will write an update everyday, it might not always be for this story, so you can check out my other stories. Don't check Muggles, Not as helpless as they seem, because that is going to require some serious time and hopefully a beta reader to help me. Mischief Managed ~


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